Baraclude News

THURSDAY, Dec. 1, 2016 – A significant number of people with HIV have strains of the AIDS-causing virus that are resistant to both older and newer drugs, researchers report. The researchers looked at 712 HIV patients worldwide whose infection was not controlled by antiretroviral drugs. They found that 16 percent of patients whose infection was resistant to modern drugs had HIV mutations linked with resistance to older drugs called thymidine analogues. Among patients whose HIV had this mutation, 80 percent were also resistant to tenofovir, the main drug in most modern HIV treatment and prevention programs, the researchers reported. The findings were published in the Nov. 30 issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. "We were very surprised to see that so many people were resistant to both drugs, as we didn't think this was possible," study lead author Ravi Gupta, of University ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 9, 2016 – Antibodies may keep the HIV virus in check and one day let patients stop taking antiretroviral drugs, two new preliminary trials suggest. Researchers tried to quell HIV in 23 patients with infusions of an anti-HIV antibody known as VRC01. The antibody was safe and repressed blood levels of HIV for a short time before the virus reappeared, the researchers said. HIV is the virus that can lead to AIDS. "We were not expecting that we were going to see a prolonged repression, because it was only a single antibody," said co-study author Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The next phase is to infuse two or three antibodies intermittently, and see if antiretroviral drugs can be withdrawn permanently, he explained. After regular intravenous infusions of VRC01, participants in the U.S. National Institutes of ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26, 2016 – HIV patients who've been treated with antiretroviral drugs still have the AIDS-causing virus in their tissues, a new study suggests. Treatment with antiretrovirals eliminates detectable levels of HIV in the blood and controls the disease. But the new findings suggest that HIV in the tissues may not cause AIDS but could contribute to the development of unrelated conditions, such as cancer and heart disease, according to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) researchers. "Looking in tissues of treated HIV patients, we found that HIV in some tissues did not appear to be affected by antiretrovirals," said study senior author Dr. Michael McGrath. "Notably we saw no evidence of drug resistance, which we would have seen if the virus had been exposed to medications," said McGrath. He is UCSF professor of laboratory medicine at the AIDS and Cancer ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 26, 2016 – Using genetic analyses of 40-year-old blood samples, scientists have arrived at a clearer understanding of the introduction and spread in North America of the virus that causes AIDS. One myth already debunked by the research: That there was a "Patient Zero" who somehow caused the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States. "In many ways, the historical evidence has been pointing to the fallacy of Patient Zero for decades," said Dr. Richard McKay, who studies the history behind the AIDS epidemic and was a co-author on the new study. "We now have additional [genetic] evidence that helps to consolidate this position," McKay said in a news release from the University of Cambridge in England. He is a professor in the university's departments of history and philosophy of science. The new genetic research was published Oct. 26 in the journal ... Read more

THURSDAY, Oct. 13, 2016 – Scientists may have found a way to suppress an HIV-like infection in monkeys, without the need for ongoing drug therapy. The researchers added antibody therapy to standard drug treatment given to macaque monkeys infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). After three months, the animals were taken off the drugs, but their viral levels remained low to undetectable – for close to two years. Experts stressed that the animal findings need to be viewed with caution, and that many questions remain. But, they were also hopeful this could lead to a therapy that frees at least some people from their HIV drug regimens. An initial safety study has already started at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The drug "cocktails" used to treat HIV – known as combined antiretroviral therapy (ART) – have changed the face of the ... Read more

TUESDAY, July 19, 2016 – The number of HIV/AIDS deaths worldwide each year has fallen since peaking in 2005, but the number of new HIV infections is up in 74 countries, according to a new study. Deaths from HIV/AIDS fell to 1.2 million in 2015 from 1.8 million in 2005. Though the number of new HIV infections has decreased since a peak of 3.3 million in 1997, it has been relatively stable at about 2.5 million a year for the past decade. Worldwide, new HIV infections fell just 0.7 percent a year between 2005 and 2015, compared to 2.7 percent a year between 1997 and 2005, the study found. Sub-Saharan Africa continued to be a trouble spot, accounting for three-quarters of new HIV infections (1.8 million) in 2015. Last year, south Asia had 8.5 percent (212,500) of new infections; southeast Asia, 4.7 percent (117,500); and east Asia, 2.3 percent (57,500). Between 2005 and 2015, the ... Read more

MONDAY, June 13, 2016 – Many newly infected HIV patients experience neurological problems, but they tend to be mild and they subside after antiretroviral drugs are given, a new study finds. "We were surprised that neurologic findings were so pervasive in participants diagnosed with very recent HIV infection," said study author Dr. Joanna Hellmuth. She is a clinical fellow in the department of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). "While the findings were mild, it is clear that HIV affects the nervous system within days of infection," she said in a university news release. "Since the majority of these neurologic issues were resolved with treatment, our study reinforces recommendations that people at risk for HIV test often and start antiretroviral treatment immediately if they are infected," Hellmuth added. Among 139 people in Thailand infected with HIV three ... Read more

FRIDAY, May 6, 2016 – Although HIV infection and transmission rates in the United States declined over the past five years, they fell short of White House targets, a new study finds. Between 2010 and 2015, new HIV infections decreased 11 percent and transmission of the AIDS-causing virus declined 17 percent, far less than the goals set in 2010 as part of the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), researchers said. The NHAS goals for 2015 were reductions of 25 percent for new HIV infections and 30 percent declines in HIV transmission. "Even though we missed the goals by a sizable margin, it's promising to see that we made important progress in reducing rates of HIV infection and transmission," said lead study author Robert Bonacci. He is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The aim was to lower the persistent HIV infection rate ... Read more

THURSDAY, April 21, 2016 – People with HIV may age prematurely, putting them at increased risk for an earlier death, a new study indicates. With antiretroviral therapy, many people with HIV can expect to live for decades after being infected with the AIDS-causing virus. However, doctors have noted that these patients often show signs of premature aging. Using what they called a highly accurate marker for aging on a biological level, the study authors reported that HIV seems to cause an average of nearly five years of premature aging. This increases the risk of early death by 19 percent, according to the study published April 21 in the journal Molecular Cell. "The medical issues in treating people with HIV have changed," said study co-author Howard Fox, a professor in the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. ... Read more

TUESDAY, Feb. 23, 2016 – A drug used to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission during pregnancy may slow language development slightly in children, a new study suggests. Researchers followed more than 900 infants who were born to HIV-positive mothers but were not infected by the AIDS-causing virus. All of the mothers took antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Some of the treatment regimens included a drug called atazanavir (Reyataz), while others did not. The infants underwent a standard test of development at 1 year of age. The 167 infants whose mothers took atazanavir during pregnancy had slightly lower language and social development scores than the 750 infants whose mothers did not take the drug. But the study only showed an association between atazanavir and language delays in children, and did not prove a cause-and-effect link. And the difference in social development scores ... Read more

MONDAY, Feb. 22, 2016 – An insertable vaginal ring containing a month's supply of a continuous-release HIV prevention drug reduced the risk of HIV in African women by at least 27 percent, a new study found. The ring works by slowly and continuously delivering a highly localized and controlled amount of the antiretroviral medication dapivirine. This drug aims to halt the ability of HIV – the virus that causes AIDS – to replicate inside a healthy cell. The goal: to prevent HIV infection, rather than treat it, the researchers said. "These results come after a number of challenging years in the effort to find ways to improve HIV control," said study lead author Dr. Jared Baeten, a professor in the departments of global health, medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. "But while the dapivirine vaginal ring isn't commercially available yet, I'm really very ... Read more

MONDAY, Feb. 8, 2016 – Drinking alcohol may be more dangerous for people infected with HIV, a new study suggests. The effects of alcohol appear to be more pronounced for those with the virus that causes AIDS, even when the virus is suppressed with modern antiretroviral treatment (ART), the Yale University researchers reported. They noted that HIV patients who have just one or two drinks a day are at greater risk for death or alcohol-related health issues. The study involved patients treated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs between 2008 and 2012. There were more than 18,000 HIV-positive patients and over 42,000 people not infected with the virus. The researchers investigated the link between drinking alcohol, death and other health issues the patients developed. They found the patients with HIV who drank even moderate amounts of alcohol were more likely to develop ... Read more

FRIDAY, Feb. 5, 2016 – While HIV diagnoses dropped significantly over the past decade in the United States, blacks with HIV are less likely than whites or Hispanics to receive routine, ongoing care, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2005 to 2014, annual HIV diagnoses fell 19 percent in the United States. Infections among black women dropped 42 percent during this period. Despite this progress in the fight against HIV, racial disparities persist, the CDC found. While black people make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for nearly half of all HIV diagnoses in 2014. "CDC has been working for many years to eliminate the HIV disparities that exist within the black community," Dr. Eugene McCray, director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said in an agency news release. "While we are seeing signs of success, we must continue ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27, 2016 – Even when blood tests of HIV patients on antiretroviral drugs show no sign of the AIDS-causing virus, it can still be replicating in lymphoid tissue, researchers report. The study offers important new insight into how HIV persists in the body despite treatment with the powerful drugs, according to the team of international researchers led by Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. To reach their finding, they examined viral sequences in samples of lymph node and blood cells from three HIV-infected patients who had no detectable virus in their blood. And what they found was that a viral reservoir in lymphoid tissue, which scientists believed held long-lived infected cells in a resting state, was being constantly replenished with infected cells. "The challenge is to deliver drugs at clinically effective concentrations to where the ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 23, 2015 – Preliminary new research raises the prospect that a recently discovered antibody – an important component of the immune system – could be enlisted to boost the body's response to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A single injection of the antibody, currently dubbed VRC01, dramatically reduced the level of HIV in the blood of people who hadn't yet been given antiretroviral drug treatment (ART). ART is the current standard treatment for managing HIV infections, according to the study's authors from the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. But in people who'd already been treated with ART, the antibody injection had no effect on HIV levels, presumably because the ART therapy had already reduced the levels of HIV virus in their blood, the researchers said. And the researchers were quick to note ... Read more